Shoot Me
by amber505
Summary: [GSR]I tried to make the plot line revolve around crime scenarios but it is mostly about Grissom and Sara...for the first part anyway. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: As much as I would like to, I do not own the characters of CSI.

This could take place anywhere really, but it makes sense for it to be shortly after season 3, as it references to the episode '_Play with Fire'_ from that season. Apologies for any mistakes.

* * *

Sara Sidle stood alone outside the lab, watching Greg and Grissom while they analysed some evidence from a crime scene. _A crime scene she hadn't been to._ She knew it was unprofessional of her, but she resented that Grissom had made sure she was assigned to a case with Nick while he worked with Catherine and Warrick. It just seemed to her that was distancing himself from her…ever since she made the mistake of assuming too much and asking him to diner. His rejection came as a shock to her; she really had believed he had feelings for her. Maybe she should have known better than to trust her own judgement of an emotional situation regarding Gilbert Grissom. She had never really seen him express emotion for anything. Through the glass, her eyes caught his for a moment. But he did what he always did and looked away.

Sara sighed and carried on down the hallway, letting her personal feelings take over her job. Bumping into Nick was the last thing she needed right now.

"Hey!" he greeted her, apparently oblivious to the saddened look on her face.

"Hi", she mumbled, trying to hide the upset in her voice.

Nick frowned slightly but chose not to question her mood. "So I was heading down to the lab to give this sample to Greg", he told her, holding a small plastic package containing an unknown white substance between a gloved finger and thumb. "You want to come? This is your case a much as it is mine."

She knew he wasn't really requesting her to come with him, just reminding her that she should snap out of whatever daze she was in and get on with her job. As much as she didn't want to face Grissom right now, she knew Nick was right and agreed to go along with him.

Luckily for her, Grissom was just leaving when they reached the lab. The three of them paused awkwardly outside the door. Grissom greeted only Nick but allowed his gaze to linger on Sara as she waked into the lab.

_I don't know what to do about this._ Grissom remembered his words upon Sara's request for a diner date. It was true, he _didn't _know what to do. But there was a lot more that she didn't know. A lot more he wasn't sure he could ever explain to her. It wasn't that he didn't have feelings for her, it was more that he was _afraid _of having feelings for her. She was his CSI, his co-worker. Grissom couldn't begin to imagine how anything more than friendship between them would affect their jobs. In that same moment, she turned and locked eyes with him. The hurt and love he saw in her eyes didn't make things any easier. She was just going to have to understand that nothing could ever happen between them.

* * *

Sorry it's quite short and probably not all the great right now, but it will get better. Ideas and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading x


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Once again, I do not own CSI. Enjoy

* * *

"Looks like flour", Greg observed, holding the packaged evidence Nick had given him.

"Yeah, don't you think that's pretty weird?" Sara said, trying to sound as involved as possible "We found it all over the vic's hair".

Greg shrugged "Maybe she worked in a bakery".

Sara pictured the woman's body. She was all dressed up with no other evidence to suggest she worked in a bakery. But she had left most of the evidence collection to Nick since she had other things on her mind. Already she felt guilty for that. _Grissom is no reason to slack off work _she reminded herself.

Nick's expression seemed to reflect how Sara felt about Greg's theory, but he just mumbled "Hmm…"

"Well, I'll get this tested. Anything else I can do for you?" Greg said, winking at Sara.

"No thanks Greg", Sara told him dryly. She wasn't in the mood for flirting. "I'm going…to do…paperwork".

Paperwork wasn't something Sara had any plans to do. She didn't really want to do anything; she just had to get out of the lab. Fresh air seemed like something she could do with, so she headed towards the door. Somehow she found herself outside Grissom's office, unsure whether or not to knock. He and Warrick were sat inside, talking about a case no doubt. She couldn't seem to tear her self away.

"I thought stalking was a crime", a distinctive, almost seductive female voice joked.

Sara turned to face a smiling Catherine.

"I uh…I was just…" Sara stuttered.

Catherine smiled again and said something under her breath that Sara didn't catch.

"Listen, Cath…do you want to come for a drink with me tonight?" she asked.

"I don't know, Sara. I've got Lindsey to look after".

"Well can you get a babysitter?" Sara begged "Please, I really need a friend tonight".

Catherine sighed "I'll see what I can do". Then she disappeared into Grissom's office, leaving Sara alone.

Nick caught up with her a little while later to tell her the results of Greg's tests.

"Flour", he confirmed "self-raising".

"So…Kayla Harris had self-raising flour in her hair. Why?" Sara asked.

Nick shrugged "I don't know. But I did just find out that her sister, a Miss Geranne Harris works in a bakery".

Sara nodded "Maybe you should talk to Brass".

"Well I was going to ask you if…" Nick started to say, but Sara was already gone. With a sigh, he turned and headed to find Captain Brass.

Grissom didn't see Sara until later that afternoon in the break room. She glanced up at him, acknowledging his existence but then proceeded to keep her head bowed. When she and Nick left to work on their case, Grissom was left with Catherine and Warrick.

"What?" he responded to Catherine's defiant glare.

"You don't see it?" Warrick questioned.

Grissom was aware of exactly what they meant, but still dared to ask.

"That girl is head over heels", Catherine urged impatiently "What exactly are you waiting for?"

"I'm not waiting for anything, Catherine".

"So…?" Warrick persisted.

"So we have evidence to process". Grissom said, standing up.

Catherine looked thoughtful for a moment, before too standing and saying "You know, Gris, I've got a favour to ask of you…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own CSI.

**A/N: **Finally getting towards a little more GSR chemistry! (No pun intended) Oh, and thanks for the correction Peggy47, much appreciated.

* * *

"This is about Grissom isn't it?" Catherine asked as she watched Sara throw her fourth drink down her neck.

"I don't even want to _hear _that man's name again", she slurred, the drink obviously getting to her as she tossed her body unintentionally against a wall.

Catherine's eyes darted nervously to the door of the bar they were in. "Ah, well…I took the liberty of inviting another guest, keep you company", she said quickly, grabbing her purse. "I've got to get back to Lindsey".

Sara wasn't sure who she meant until a gentle voice from behind her said "Hello Miss Sidle".

Her whole body froze, sensing that the person behind her was the one person she did not want to see. She relaxed a little and turned to stare into the deep blue eyes of Gil Grissom.

Catherine shot him a devilish smile as she announced her departure and left the two of them alone.

_This is not the right moment _Sara thought. _This should not be happening now. What the hell was Catherine thinking? Wait…what was Gil thinking? He must have come here willingly._

She turned away from him for a moment to finish her drink, and then spun back around to find him still staring silently at her.

"Why are you here?" she asked at last.

"I'm here because Catherine told me you could use a friend", he answered almost robotically.

Her heart sank "You're here for Catherine?"

"I'm here for you".

The words hit her sharply. _You are not imagining it, Sara _she kept telling herself _he is leading you on._

Unsure of what to say to him, Sara leaned over the bar and ordered another drink.

"How many have you had?" Grissom asked, pressing his face close to hers so she could hear him better. Probably.

"Does me drinking bother you?"

"No, it doesn't bother me",

"Then why ask?"

"Because I care about you".

Taking a long sip from her drink, Sara burned her eyes into Grissom's. Seeing his emotionless face, she dropped her gaze to the floor and whispered "You don't".

If he heard he didn't attempt to reassure her.

She took another careless gulp from the drink in front of her and cursed when she spilt it down her top.

Grissom slipped an arm around her. "I think I should get you home".

Normally Sara would have been quick to object to this statement, but the thought of Grissom protecting and taking care of her seem to soothe away all the anger and pain she felt for him.

She didn't protest as he guided her out of the bar and opened the passenger door of his car for her. Nor did she protest as his hands blindly groped her helping her inside.

He got in at the other side and drove her in silence to her apartment. Although she did love to hear Grissom's voice, she appreciated the lack of conversation for fear of further embarrassment.

Pulling to a stop outside her apartment, Grissom proceeded to help her out of his car and inside. He paused uneasily in her living room while Sara flopped on her sofa.

"I'll get you a glass of water", he said helpfully.

A few minutes later, he returned holding out a glass for her. He sat down beside her and she gratefully accepted the glass and took a drink from it.

"Your clothes are wet", he pointed out.

She glanced down at her top "That an invitation?"

Confusion crossed his face "I'm…sorry?"

She leaned forward and pushed her mouth to his. At first he didn't stop her, but when he finally pushed her off she glared angrily at him,

"Don't pretend like you're not leading me on"

Grissom sighed "Sara…I'm sorry about whatever you think is between us"

"Don't be", she answered flatly "you've never been one to think of anyone but yourself".

"I am thinking of you!" he shouted "That's why this can't happen".

"Well then you should leave", Sara said, already the tears were welling in the back of her eyes. "If you have no feelings for me at all, you should go".

Grissom had no idea what to do. He had to decide between leaving Sara and losing her forever, or staying with her and risking everything. His mind was all over the place as he reached over and placed his hand below her chin.

"You are beautiful", he told her, softly kissing her open mouth, for longer than he should "and I am so sorry".

He stood up and watched as the first tear trickled down her cheek.

"You deserve so much more than this, than I can ever give you and I am sorry".

She watched as he headed towards the door and didn't look back at her once. It hurt him too much to see her cry. But she wouldn't have believed anyone who told her that.

* * *

Sorry about the sad ending..it wasn't really meant to go like that, but hopefully lots more happy GSR scenes in the next chapter. Yay! 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: If I owned CSI, I wouldn't have to keep writing these.

* * *

Sara Sidle had never been a woman who gave into anything. Apologising out of guilt was not the sort of thing she enjoyed doing. So she even surprised herself the following morning when she marched down the hallway towards Grissom's office with every intention of putting things right between them, even if it did mean a lot of grovelling.

As she expected, Grissom was sat in his office writing notes on something. The determined streak in Sara chose not to knock but to simply enter the room unannounced.

Grissom was rather surprised to see her. He presumed that by leaving her alone last night she would automatically channel years worth of anger she had for him refusing to advance to her feelings for him, and therefore would want to spend as much time as possible away from him. He had been wrong. It was not often that Gil Grissom was wrong.

"Last night", Sara said, getting straight to the point like she had forced herself to do "that was really stupid of me and I'm sorry".

"Okay", Gil responded. He had wanted to say so much more but all the things that stopped him being with Sara in the first place also stopped the words from leaving his mouth.

She nodded calmly, hoping that maybe he would say something else, something that would remind her of why she was so in love with him in the first place. L_ove? _She had always denied herself of even thinking of that word to describe her feelings for Grissom. Today she was completely sure that it was the only word that really made things clear to her.

She was about to turn her back on the only thing she wanted right now. The only thing she get out of bed on a morning to see, and she was about to do it because she couldn't stand to watch this one-sided love tear her and Grissom apart. She would only end up hurting herself and maybe even Grissom. He had been right; walking away now, as friends was the best thing for them both to do. No amount of love, or pain, or passion would ever change that.

"I want you to know", she said, her voice wobbly "that I will never regard anything you say or do to me as any sort of romantic interest. Our relationship is strictly professional from now on".

"I…" Grissom's heart was beating faster in his chest, pleading with him to make the right decision, to tell her how much he really cared about her, how much he really wanted her. His mind flooded with memories of the night before; how she was so needy for him to stay with her, and the way she tasted…

She was so beautiful and special, how could he let her walk away now? After everything, all that passion flowing between them that he had, before now, chosen to ignore. He did not want to do this, and he knew by the look on her face she really needed him to stop her. But yet the words would not come.

"I think you're making a wise decision, Miss Sidle, one that in the long-run will benefit us both."

Sara felt shocked by his words. But had she really expected him to open up to her now, after all this time? The only thing she had ever gained from the man was sorrow and pain. Yet she could almost feel his eyes follow her as she left the room, watching his last real chance of happiness walk away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: Yes, I do own CSI, but that was just a pleasant dream

* * *

For the rest of the day, Sara got on with her job. She and Nick visited Dr. Robbins to find out Kayla Harris's cause of death.

"Blunt force trauma", he told them "single wound to the back of her head. No signs of a struggle".

"She knew her killer?" Sara questioned

"Or she was taken by surprise", suggested Nick. "What about the flour on her head, Doc?"

"Definitely there before she was struck, the blood from her wound was on top".

"Okay, well since you disappeared somewhere yesterday; care to take a look at the evidence with me?" Nick asked Sara

She still felt guilty about that "Sure Nicky".

On their way out, they bumped into Grissom. _This is going to be so much harder than I thought_ Sara kept thinking, while she tried her hardest to avoid eye contact. But he looked right at her, their usual staring contest which always always resulted in him turning away. Today was no different.

She tried to get him out of her head as she and Nick began to spread the evidence they had so far out. What was in front of them was few, and she couldn't help but think that her sloppy work as a CSI had resulted in that. Technically, she thought Grissom was to blame. But she wasn't sure she could really use that in her defence if it came to it. All they had were a couple of things found at the crime scene: white fibres that didn't appear to come from anything in Kayla's house and a torn piece of note-book paper with her blood on it. Alongside the items were Dr. Robbins autopsy report and Greg's lab report.

Nick held the bloody paper in the corner which had now mostly dried. He frowned and inspected it closely.

"Hey Sara, wasn't it your job to check out this evidence?" he asked her.

She nodded timidly, now seeing what had made him question her in the first place. There in the still wet blood on the paper was a partial print.

Nick exhaled deeply, he was obviously mad at her for missing what could be vital evidence. He didn't say anything as he collected the print and ordered her to go check the database.

On her way out he told her that he didn't want to be he would have to tell Grissom about this. Sara gulped but, remembering their talk about keeping everything professional, remained calm and did as Nick had asked her.

After a bit of help on the database, Sara headed to the break room where she found Nick, Warrick and Catherine. _No Grissom _she noted, but that wasn't out of the ordinary. Grissom spent most of his time locked away in his office or out on the field. He was not a people person and generally kept himself to himself.

Sara passed the print-out of possible matches to the print to Nick. He thanked her and pretended to study it, but really he was trying to work out what Catherine's demanding glares at Sara were about.

"Nothing", Sara mouthed but Warrick noticed and looked confused.

"Um…Cath, I need to talk to you alone", Sara said, quickly dragging her friend out into the hall way.

"So?" Catherine asked the minute they were outside the room.

"So nothing happened", Sara told her flatly.

Catherine looked deflated "He just doesn't know when to make a move",

"Oh, he did that alright", Sara mumbled "but then he said that I deserved much better than him and apologised".

"Right now I think you _do _deserve someone better than him",

"Like who? You know about my dating history",

"Oh…yeah", Catherine smirked a little, remembering the time she gave a severed finger to Sara while she was on a date. "It doesn't have to be a _date _exactly, just flirt a little, Gil's sure to be jealous of that".

"Flirt with whom?" she inquired, wondering what Catherine had already planned for her.

Sara followed her eyes in the direction of the lab.

"Greg!?" she yelled

"Well, he has a _huge _crush on you, why not?"

"_Why not? _It's...Greg!" was all she could respond.

"I know it's not the ideal solution but flirting with Greg shouldn't be hard." Catherine laughed "Besides…I might have already put in a good word for you…"

"_What?" _Sara exploded "You didn't even know what happened with me and Gris until a minute ago"

"I know Grissom", was all Catherine said.

Sara stood, open mouthed in the hallway while Catherine walked back into the break room. Neither woman saw Gilbert Grissom watching them from around the corner.

Grissom spent all day thinking about the exchange of words he'd conveniently over-heard Catherine and Sara say to each other. They had been talking about him. He knew that even before his name was mentioned. He could see Sara was upset but he knew he'd done the right thing, even if he did feel a slight pang of jealousy to think of Catherine's plan. It wasn't going to work if _he _was with Sara, but could he really watch her be with someone else? From what he'd heard she would only get together with Greg to attract his attention, and he knew damn well that even with that mind, it would work.

"Hey, guess what?" Nick said when he caught up with Sara later that day.

"What?" she asked.

"That partial print could be a match to Bill Lyndon, and his girlfriend is Geranne Harris, our vic's sister",

"Geranne works in a bakery, right? Would Bill Lyndon have had access to it?"

"Sure, she said her boyfriend came to visit her all the time".

"Did you get a sample of the flour used in the bakery?"

Nick produced a packaged flour sample and handed her it "Take this to Greg", he told her "I'm going to call Brass".

Sara had been dreading her next moment alone with Greg after what Catherine had told her, and it was about to come a lot sooner than she thought. She had been thinking about the whole 'making Gil jealous' situation and decided it was rather a juvenile plan, but she could think of no other way to get what she wanted so much.

When she first asked Greg to compare the flour samples, neither of them said very much to each other. He told her he'd get the results to her or Nick as soon as possible and she started to leave, it was then he called her back.

"Sara?"

She stopped and turned to look at him.

"Um... Catherine was talking to me earlier and there's something I've been meaning to ask you…"

"What?" she asked, knowing exactly what this was about.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me some time. I mean…not like a date or anything…"

Sara thought about what Catherine had said. If Greg had such a big crush on her, then maybe Grissom would be jealous. Even if he wasn't, he certainly wouldn't like it. She knew it wasn't fair to use Greg like that but she was sure he would move on quickly. It didn't seem in his character to have fallen for her the way she had for Grissom. He would bounce back and have a new girl by the end of the week…it was Greg!

She smiled, not sure whether it was because she was flattered by Greg's proposal or because she couldn't wait to make Gil envious.

"Sure, Greg", she answered sweetly "Providing Grissom doesn't give me any bad decomposed bodies, I should smell great tomorrow night".

"Okay", he answered "I guess I'll see you later then".

Sara headed back to the break room where she hoped she would find Catherine to tell her about Greg. Instead she found only Nick and Grissom.

The silence told her Nick had probably informed Grissom about her missing the print. She looked at both of them, not daring to speak.

"Brass has got our suspect in", Nick said at last.

Grissom turned to him "You should go down there, provide Brass with any evidence you might have",

Then Grissom's eyes fell on Sara "As for you Sidle, my office now".

* * *

This isn't going like I had planned...some more GSR-ness coming up though!

As for the forensic science part...I have actually studied it at school, but I'm not saying that what happens to the evidence in my fic would happen in real life (or rather, in CSI) so there could be mistakes in that. Thanks for reading x


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own CSI

* * *

Leaving the break room, Sara noticed Catherine was just leaving the lab at the same time. Grissom stopped, told her to go on to his office and walked over to Catherine.

When Grissom came into his office he didn't say anything to Sara until he was sat down and looking her straight in the eye.

"Sara…it has been said that your work recently hasn't been what it normally is", he told her firmly.

What he had just heard from Catherine was not going to interfere with what he had to say to Sara, he promised himself. It didn't quite work like that.

"Your speech earlier about keeping things professional", he started, leaving a pause long enough to clear his throat, and his mind.

"Grissom, I am really trying…" Sara cut him off.

"I meant your new relationship with Greg Sanders", he muttered, almost hoping she wouldn't hear him.

She did "That's what you think? That I have a _relationship _with Greg?"

"Well I just spoke to Catherine…"

"It's got nothing to do with you or Catherine".

"I know that", Grissom said in a perfectly poised and stable manner. "As your boss I just wanted to remind you of the work ethics code. You are not going to be Ecklie's favourite person when he hears about this. Personally, I hope you're very happy".

Sara was shocked; Gil did not seem the least bit envious. "I will be", she told him, heading for the door.

He prolonged her exit "Sara?"

She turned. "Yes Mr. Grissom?"

"I know you're only doing this to make me jealous",

She looked at the floor "Catherine tell you that?"

"No",

"Then how…?"

Grissom got up and placed his hands on her shoulders "That doesn't matter. I just wanted to tell you that it's working. So you can stop now".

"I…don't understand", Sara said, confused by what he was telling her.

His hands remained on her shoulders, their faces inches away. "You didn't really want to go on a date with Greg did you?"

"I…" Sara realised Grissom wasn't letting her go. Their bodies were pressing together and he was the one in control "No…I didn't".

He leaned closer to whisper in her ear "So I'm doing you a favour. Let him down gently won't you?" he took his hands off her and moved back to his desk.

Sara stood there confused and not moving.

"That would be all, Miss Sidle"

She smiled at him as she left the room "What happened to keeping things professional?"

* * *

Short chapter for now but I'll update later.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: I don't own CSI, but I asked for it for Christmas..

* * *

"I think we got a confession!"

Sara watched as Nick and Brass interrogated Bill Lyndon. It seemed her case was all wrapped up and with nothing else to do, she soon found herself floating outside Grissom's office.

Their conversation earlier had been nothing less than weird. Was Grissom admitting feelings for her? Did he just want to make sure the date between her and Greg never happened? Sara was certainly very confused and a little annoyed with Grissom for stringing her along and then hurting her all over again every time he changed his mind, or put his own feelings first.

Because she agreed to go along with Catherine's plan, there wasn't just herself to be messed around, but Greg too and she realised she needed to talk to him. But first she had to know how Grissom really felt about her and what was going on in his head.

She reached out to knock on the door but a voice from behind stopped her. She frowned, realising who the voice belonged to. Greg Sanders: always there when you need him the least.

"Greg…hi", Sara said in an overly-cheerful voice.

"No decomp-duty then?" he asked

Sara looked puzzled before remembering what she had said earlier and suppressing a smile. _Take the easy way _her mind told her _lie to him, pretend you can't go out tomorrow night because of a bad case. He'll understand. _But she knew she couldn't do that to him. Especially if anything _did _happen between her and Grissom. She didn't want Greg to think of her as a liar.

"No…but I have been thinking about tomorrow, and I'm not sure it's such a good idea".

Greg nodded as if he had predicted her words "You're blowing me off?"

"I'm sorry…it's just…"

"Nah, you don't have to be", he grinned "I just hope he's worth it".

Sara watched him disappear down the hallway, wondering how he knew there was another guy, and worse, if he knew it was Grissom.

Trying to regain her confidence, Sara turned to Grissom's office door again. But it was swung open before she could knock, sending her backwards a little with the shock.

Grissom stared suspiciously at her "Sara? What are you doing out here?"

"I was…just about to knock", she said, trying hard not to sound like a stalker.

He laughed and told her he was heading out to the scene of a robbery, pausing before asking her to join him.

"Everyone else is busy…." he explained.

"What a way to make a girl feel special", she joked.

He smiled at her awkwardly as she followed him out to his car.

"Actually I came by your office to ask you something", Sara said when they were both seated in the car.

"Hmm?" Grissom said.

"I wanted to know if…" Sara began, choking on her own words.

"Yes Sara?"

"Do you…have feelings…for me?"

Grissom's face remained totally calm, almost expressionless except for a slight glint in his eyes that Sara noticed as a pause for thought.

"I shouldn't have said anything…" she excused herself, truly wishing that she hadn't.

"Yes", Grissom said quietly, maintaining focus on the steering-wheel.

Sara stared at him but he didn't look back. "What?"

He turned in her direction, locking eyes with her for only a second "I think you heard me Sara. Now, we really must get over to this crime scene", he insisted, starting the car up.

"This is just like you, Grissom", Sara yelled "The minute you start to show a tiny bit of emotion, you change the subject!"

"I wasn't changing the subject. If we don't go now, we won't get there on time".

"So…what, we can talk about this later? Well whenever the time's right for you", she muttered sarcastically.

"There never will be a right time", he said, raising his voice just enough to imply seriousness. "Yes, I have feelings for you, and yes I have for a long time but I don't know what to do about that".

"So you're just going to ignore them?"

"For the time being, yes".

Sara slumped back in her seat "You know, I don't _get _you Grissom".

"Good", he told her "I don't expect you to".

The rest of the drive there was silent as Sara thought about what he had just told her. She hadn't anticipated it to be this hard, not now he'd confessed how he felt about her. It just seemed that whatever she did he would not open up to her and maybe she was growing tired of trying with him.

Grissom understood that Sara was hurt by the way he was treating her. He just wasn't sure that acting on the feelings she now knew he felt for her was such a wise idea. _The problem with Sara is her stubbornness_ Grissom thought to himself _but maybe that's one of the reasons I like her so much…_

* * *

Aww poor Greggo, oh well it's leaning towards a little more GSR-ness. Ha...it's quite hard to get them together whilst keeping them in character. I guess eventually some thing's got to give. Even I don't know what's going to happen next, but I'll update probably tomorrow, thanks for reading x 


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: I don't own CSI. Though I think you probably realise that and I should maybe stop writing these.

* * *

Once at the robbery scene of a small corner shop, Grissom and Sara acted normally to each other. Both knew how important it was to their jobs to act as civilly as possible while processing a crime scene.

Grissom stood behind the shop counter "Help me with this. The shop attendant says two men in ski masks came in and held him at gun point. When he didn't get them money fast enough, one of them shot him in the arm".

Sara stepped forward "What do you want me to do?"

He showed her, positioning his hands to look like a gun "Shoot me",

Stepping back towards the door of the shop, Sara aimed her 'gun' at him.

The pathway between the point of her finger and Grissom was blocked by a shop display.

"Okay…" Grissom said "The shooter wasn't stood in the door way", his eyes lowered to the floor near where he was stood "Or…"

"What?" Sara asked, walking over to him to see what he had found.

"Look at this blood splatter. That wouldn't come from just a shot in the arm".

Sara bent down to look closer at the blood and noticed a smudge on the counter. Turning to where she had left her kit behind her, Sara took a bottle of luminol and sprayed the counter. It glowed blue.

"Looks like someone tried to clean this up", Sara said looking back up at Grissom.

"You swab that", he told her "I'll go find out when I can talk to the shop assistant".

Grissom was gone longer than she had anticipated, and she decided to continue searching the scene after collecting a swab of the blood from both the counter and the floor. She froze, reaching the back of the shop. There in front of her was the body of a man.

She was about to go outside to find out where Grissom had gone when a voice stopped her.

"Don't move",

The cold barrel of a gun was pressed into the back of her head and she found herself praying for her own life.

As a CSI, Sara was aware of the risks involved. But she was trained to use a gun and in most cases, she didn't have to work alone. _Oh God Grissom _she thought _where are you?_

She tried to keep calm as the person behind her told her to drop her weapon. How did they even know she _had _a weapon? Her mind raced, thinking of what she had been taught in training. Her life would be in danger if she didn't do as the person asked and she knew she wouldn't be able to shoot at them fast enough.

"Please…" Sara tried reasoning but the voice behind her was adamant that she was to drop her gun.

She lifted the gun from her pocket, trembling now with realisation that she couldn't save herself.

Her fingers opened slowly, releasing her gun. It dropped to the floor with a crash.

"Walk!" the voice commanded, pushing the gun harder into her skull.

She obeyed, in desperation thinking of ways to get free.

Her chance came in the form of a gun shot that sent her attacker tumbling backwards, disarming him. Refusing to let fear sink in, she ran from the back room and into Gil's waiting arms.

"Sara! Thank God you're okay", he said, holding her tightly.

She buried her face in his shoulder, taking in his scent and thinking how wonderful it was to have him there. "You saved my life", she whispered.

He kept his arms around her "I'm sorry I left you. I never thought…if anything had happened to you…"

"Thank you", she said softly, cutting him off.

Her words tickled his chin as she had now lifted her head to look at him. Their eyes met and Sara half expected Grissom to turn away like he always did. But this time he leaned in and kissed her passionately. In an instant, she felt better.

"Come on Miss Sidle", Grissom said when he finally broke away, a hint of humour to his voice "I'll take you home".

"What about…him?" Sara gestured to the man that had held her at gunpoint and the further dead body in the shop's back room.

"I'll call David", he told her in an 'everything's-under-control' voice normally used to speak to a child.

She followed him out of the shop, despite his patronising manor towards her. She knew it was probably just because he cared about her and didn't want her to worry about anything after what she had just been through.

Plus…she kind of liked the idea of him taking her home if he intended to stay with her…

* * *

That should keep GSR-shippers happy for the moment, and I promise the next chapter will be a little more _exciting _) 


	9. Chapter 9

After helping Sara into his car, Grissom called Catherine and asked her to bring Warrick and David and take over the case. He explained that he had shot a guy who tried to kidnap Sara and told her he knew they should stay around but that Sara was really shaken up and he needed to take her home.

When the call was over he climbed into his car and told Sara they were just going to wait until Catherine got there.

"You know, I'm really okay Gris", she protested "We can still work this case".

"I don't think that's a good idea", he insisted.

She sighed, realising she was not going to beat the one person more stubborn than she was.

"Are you coming back here?" Sara dared to ask after a couple of minutes had silently passed.

"I'm taking myself off the case, but I imagine police will need to talk to me about the shot I fired to save you".

"You don't have to do that for me", she said "I don't mind if you help Catherine with this".

"I wasn't doing it for you", he said, only realising how hurtful it sounded much too late. "I mean…Ecklie will have a fit if I work a case where I'm this much involved".

Sara nodded but didn't say anything else for fear of showing him how upset she really was over his last comment.

Catherine eventually arrived with Warrick and David. She came over to the car and asked for Grissom's gun.

"What exactly happened?" she asked, looking at Sara but really wanting Grissom to answer.

He did "I left Sara to collect some evidence and when I came back, some guy had her at gun point".

Catherine frowned "You left Sara alone at the crime scene?"

Grissom appeared to dislike the tone in her voice "I just went to see if I could find the cashier's name, Cath. You're going to need to bring him in for questioning".

"_Her, _actually Gris. I already had Warrick check it out"

He did not like being wrong, or being the last to know so he started up his car and told Catherine to call him when she needed him.

"She's just doing her job, Grissom", Sara said in Catherine's defence as he drove.

He ignored her "Your place or mine?"

"What?" she was shocked at the question as it seemed totally out of character for Grissom to even invite her to his house.

"I'm going to stay with you for a while", he explained "So shall I take you home or do you want to come home with me?"

"I'm fine", she told him insistently "but sure…I'll come to your place".

He didn't talk to her for the rest of the drive but she soon realised they had reached his townhouse.

He stopped the car, opened the door for her and allowed her to follow him in.

"I'll get you something to drink", he said disappearing into the kitchen.

Sara sighed and flopped down on his sofa.

When he came back her mind was flooded with questions she wanted to ask him. Once again he had strung her along. Even at a crime scene he had kissed her, but she knew he would excuse it as his fear for her safety. It didn't really mean anything.

Sitting beside Sara, Grissom handed her the drink he had made her. He could tell from the look on her face that she was mad at him, but he wasn't sure how to resolve that. Their relationship was such an awkward subject, especially after recent events. He had just gone and kissed her again, leading her on to something he had promised himself could never happen.

"Grissom?" Sara finally said bravely "I need to know…what was earlier about?"

He avoided what she really meant by that by telling her he had saved her when someone had attempted to kidnap her and was probably about to shoot her.

"I know", she said "But after that…you kissed me".

Grissom sighed "Sara…I…I'm sorry about that. I don't know why I keep doing this to you".

"I think you do".

"You think I want to hurt you?"

"No, I mean I think you want to be with me…deep down".

"I can't lie to you; it's not that I _don't _want to be with you…"

"So what are you waiting for?"

"As I told Catherine, I'm not waiting for anything".

She leaned in closer to him, knowing she was risking so much more than rejection "Would you stop me?" she asked, her face so close he could feel her warm breath hitting his mouth and chin.

_I really should pull away…_he continued to tell himself but it was useless and he ended up pushing his mouth to hers.

Breathless, Sara finally broke away "Grissom", she said "if you're going to ignore me and pretend nothing ever happened after this, I want you to take me home now".

"I'm sorry Sara", he whispered into her neck, gently kissing her upwards until his lips met the corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry I distanced myself from you for long. But I love you so much".

He kissed her again, more passionately this time as her head buzzed with thought. _I love you so much. _Did he really mean that? Why was he telling her all this now, after all this time?

She allowed him to pull her onto his lap, kissing him back desperately; scared of losing the moment that she had waited so long for.

His hands slid up her top, softly touching her skin. She let him pull it over her head, but then stopped him from going any further.

"Please", she begged "please tell me this is really what you want",

"Of course", he said, kissing the top of her head.

She wasn't convinced "Then will you tell people about us? Will you still feel like this tomorrow?"

Grissom shifted his hands which were still around Sara's waist. "Today you could've died. I don't think I could have lived with myself if anything had happened to you and I never even told you how I really felt"

"What was stopping you telling me before?" she asked, leaning into his chest.

"Work for a start", he said "Ecklie is not going to like this…"

"Screw Ecklie!" she cut him off "Screw the whole damn lab!"

"It isn't just that. There's the age gap…"

"It's not big deal. Age is just a number right?"

He sighed, knowing he was getting nowhere with this. He should have known she wasn't going to understand.

"Sara…I'm no good with emotions. I think you should know that before we take this any further".

"I'm aware of that", she answered "and I'm willing to take the risk".

"Well if you're really sure", he said, kissing her again "why don't we take this to the bedroom?"

She smiled playfully and allowed him to lead her into his bedroom, knowing this was the one moment that would change her life forever. This was all she could ever want.


	10. Chapter 10

Grissom crept out of the room so not to wake a sleeping Sara. He could hear his phone ringing and knew it was probably someone from the lab calling to talk to him about what had happened at the crime scene. _Ballistics would have analysed the evidence by now._

"Grissom", he answered.

"Hey Gil, it's Catherine" said the voice on the other end.

"Catherine…hi", he said, keeping his voice as quiet as possible so that Sara didn't hear him and wake up.

"Do you know where Sara is? I called her apartment but she didn't answer, and her cell is switched off".

_Oh no, she can't find out about us like this!_ Grissom thought to himself, he needed to think of something "Oh…actually she's with me. I didn't want to leave her on her own after what happened".

There was a pause on the other end of the line "Well both of you need to come in for questioning as soon as you can".

"We'll be right there".

Grissom hung up and wondered back into his bedroom. Sara lay still in his bed and he realised he would have to wake her up. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he leaned over her and moved a fallen strand of hair from her face. She stirred a little, half-smiling in her sleep. How could her wake her? She looked so peaceful.

Instead he got dressed and went into the kitchen to make coffee.

Sara woke up and found him thinking of legitimate reasons for them to be late.

She smiled at him lovingly and wrapped her arms around him but he didn't return her affection.

"You should get dressed. We both need to be questioned",

"Right now?" she asked.

"Yes, Catherine called while you were still asleep",

She sighed "Can't we just have five minutes together?"

"Sara, you know how his works. We need to give statements on what happened at the scene".

"At least let me get a shower first", she said, already heading for the bathroom

Grissom chose not to stop her and took a sip from his coffee.

A knock on the door startled him and he hurried to answer it. He wasn't really all that surprised to find Catherine standing on the other side.

"What's going on?" she asked "Warrick and I are done with the scene and Brass needs to speak to you and Sara".

"I know", he told her, opening the door enough for her to step inside. She took his advance. "Um…Sara's just taking a shower".

Catherine frowned "Couldn't she have done that sooner?"

"She was taking a nap", he explained.

"Who with?" she muttered, going to sit down on the sofa.

"What?" Grissom asked, hoping she hadn't just said what he thought she had.

Pausing in front of the sofa, Catherine picked something up "This is Sara's…" she said in confusion.

"Yeah, she er…she took it off when she went to shower",

"She took off her top on your sofa? Come on Gil, we're both smarter than that".

"Well what do you want me to say?"

"I don't know…the truth?" she paused "Did you sleep with her?"

Sara emerged from the bathroom at that point. "Catherine", she said "What are you doing here?"

"Oh hi, Sara", she greeted her "Your supervisor and I were just debating how your top ended up on his sofa", she sounded more annoyed than anything, stressing the _your supervisor _part as if reminding Sara how wrong a relationship between them would be.

Grissom shot her an apologetic look.

"Ah…that…" Sara said, her mind blank with what to say.

"Would one of you like to fill me in?" Catherine demanded more than asked.

"We'll talk about this later, Cath", Grissom said quickly. He looked at Sara "You better get dressed".

Snatching her top from Catherine, she disappeared into Grissom's room to retrieve the rest of her clothes and get dressed.

Catherine's eyes widened, her point proven "Now, why would her clothes be in _your _room if she just went for a shower?"

"She took a nap in there", Grissom insisted.

Catherine knew he wasn't going to admit to anything that went on between them. Maybe it wasn't her business to push it any further. She had tried to get them together for years; it was just a shock to her to find out like this.

"Ecklie finds out about this and I'm not sure you two will still have your jobs"

"Finds out about what, Catherine?" Grissom asked, obviously knowing exactly what she meat by that, and knowing she was probably right.

"I think you know exactly what I mean", she said sternly "All I'm saying is get in for questioning _now _and keep quiet about this".

"Yes ma'am", he joked, walking her to the door.

"Grissom, this isn't like you", she said on her way out "I understand Sara means a lot to you, but this could jeopardise your career…and hers".

"The tiger beetle is a predator", he announced, confusing Catherine a little as she didn't see the relevance "They chase after their pray, taking the risk that they will catch them. Of course, tiger beetles have their jaw to hold the prey once caught, but what I'm saying is…some risks are worth taking".

"Tiger beetles", she repeated "right…"

Grissom smiled to himself as she walked back to her car. A little 'bug-talk' always gets rid of someone.

Now he just had to handle the questions and try to keep his relationship with Sara secret from the rest of the team.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: See previous chapters

* * *

Brass was waiting for them when Grissom and Sara arrived. His arms folded across his chest, he announced that he wanted to speak to Sara first. Grissom was asked to wait.

Sara sat nervously on the opposite side of the table than she was used to.

Brass gave her no special treatment. "So Sara…give me your account of what happened",

She took a deep breath "Gris and I were working the case. He left to go find out some information and I swabbed"

"What information?" he cut in

"He went outside to find out when he could talk to the shop assistant",

Brass nodded "Go on…"

"So I swabbed some blood and continued searching the scene"

"Without Gil?"

"Yeah…I didn't think there was any danger in that".

"So what happened after that?"

"I went into the back room of the shop and I saw…a dead body and then…and then he…someone held a gun to my head, Brass".

"Okay", he said "and Grissom shot him defending you?"

Sara nodded "I just heard the shot".

Brass placed a gun in a plastic evidence bag on the table. "I believe this is yours".

"He was going to shoot me", she explained "made me drop my weapon".

Brass didn't respond, instead he told her that Ecklie wanted her to do lab work until Catherine and Warrick were done with the case. "Greg needs a hand working with some DNA from Nick's case".

She left the room, barely making eye contact with Grissom as she headed to DNA to find Greg.

"Ah, my favourite CSI", he greeted her.

She forced a smile "Looks like I'm here to help you today, Greg",

He smiled back "You get to cut a sample of semen out of a bed sheet!"

"Where's Nick?" she asked him, deciding not to argue with the job he had assigned her.

"Going over some video tapes with Archie I think".

She nodded "Okay…well I guess I best get to work".

After Sara left, Brass called Grissom in. He couldn't help but feel like he had done something wrong as he sat down and prepared for questioning. Sure, he had left Sara alone at that crime scene, but he didn't expect to have had to shoot someone in order to protect her. He wasn't supposed to have been gone long…

"Gil, just tell me what happened at that crime scene", Brass started.

Grissom cleared his throat "I left Sara to swab some blood while I went to find out information regarding the cashier working at the shop at the time of the robbery. We had uncovered evidence that suggested inconsistencies in his…in her story", he paused to study Brass's face but was nodded on by him. "So…while I was outside, I happened to notice this rare butterfly. I know I shouldn't have interrupted my work, but this butterfly…well I've never seen one in Nevada before".

Brass frowned "You allowed a possible suspect to sneak into the crime scene and hold your CSI at gunpoint because you found a pretty butterfly?"

"Jim, it wasn't like that…" Grissom pleaded, knowing his defence was useless.

"So tell me how it was then. Right now all I know is that your negligence could have cost Sara her life",

Grissom didn't want to think of it like that, true or not. He wasn't sure he could handle the guilt of almost being responsible of Sara's death. Maybe she shouldn't have continued to search the scene without him there. She would have had more chance to defend herself if she had seen the man entering. But he knew Brass didn't see it that way and he had to accept that this was mostly his fault.

"I know that, Jim", he said after a while.

Brass chose not to press him "After that you went back in and saw the guy pointing a gun to her head, right?"

"Yes", Grissom replied "so I fired a shot to save her".

"Well, you'll be glad to know that ballistics evidence backs up your story. Ecklie will want to see you now so I should let you go", he stood up and walked Grissom to the door. "Oh and Gil, don't piss the man off if you want to keep this job".

Grissom nodded, leaving to find Ecklie and thinking about his last comment. _Don't piss the man off if you want to keep this job_. He had no idea…

* * *

Sorry it's short, I don't have a lot of time right now but that should suffice for the time being. I'll try to get the next chapter up over Christmas. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** See previous chapters.

**

* * *

**

_What's the worst that could happen? If Ecklie's that angry he'll just give me unpaid leave for a week or so, and Catherine will supervise the night shift in my absence. That sure would piss Sara off. But what if he's angrier than that? What if he thinks it's my fault a possible suspect is laying in a hospital bed, probably unfit for police questioning? Well I suppose that is my fault…a little. _

Grissom wasn't the only one in the lab who felt an _ever so_ _slight _disliking for Conrad Ecklie. Pretty much his entire team had shared feelings of hatred for the man at some point during their time here. It was therefore probably normal to be dreading a confrontation of any sort with him, especially one in which Grissom knew was not going to go well.

He paced down the hall until he reached the office where it was quite likely he would find Ecklie. He knocked stiffly on the door, hoping that he wasn't in, hoping that he wouldn't hear him…Of course, he had no such luck.

The door, to his surprise, was opened by Sara Sidle. She looked upset, _really _upset like she had been crying. Her face looked almost fearful. Not that Grissom knew much about emotions, he was simply using an interrogation method used to study suspect's reactions.

"Sara?" he asked, knowing that Ecklie's office doorway was not the best place to hold this conversation.

She seemed to agree, and gave him a solution "Meet me…20 minutes in the locker room".

He nodded as she passed by and he hesitantly stepped into the room.

Ecklie turned to face him "Grissom. Brass send you down, did he?" _he seemed suspiciously calm. _

"Yes…"

"Then you'll know what this is about",

Grissom nodded "Me leaving Sara at the scene",

"Yeah…I just wanted to make it clear that as her supervisor, you made a very irresponsible decision when you left Sidle on her own in there".

"I know that",

"As from today, you're on unpaid leave for the rest of the week. Sidle keeps up her complaining about the lab work I've given her and she'll be joining you",

Grissom felt relived it wasn't worst, and turned to leave.

Ecklie called him back "Actually Grissom there was something else rather important I had to talk to you about",

He felt his stomach flip-flop _this did not sound good. _"Oh?"

He moved closer to him "As you know I just had a talk with Sara before you arrived", he paused as if expecting Grissom to add a comment. When he didn't he continued "and she enlightened me on something that I'd say was quite an important relation to both of your jobs".

In an instant, Grissom knew what he was about to say. _Oh God Sara, how could you be so stupid? Why would you even think telling Ecklie about us was a good idea? _

"Grissom, Sara told me of the personal…_relationship _you and her have",

Lost for words, Grissom just let an 'ah…' escape him. He had hoped that he could keep Sara a secret from the rest of his team, he hadn't even _thought _about Ecklie.

"You know as well as I do that both of you could lose your job over this!" Ecklie fumed "I suggest you have some time to think during your leave".

Grissom knew he wasn't suggesting anything. He was urging him to choose between Sara and his job, and he didn't know if he could possibly make that decision.

Sara arrived at the locker room 20 minutes later like she had told Grissom. He wasn't there yet so she sat down on the bench to wait. Another 5 minutes passed before he finally showed. She ran to him, throwing her arms around him but he didn't respond. Pulling away, she looked confused at him

"You told Ecklie", he said quietly, his voice lacking emotion of any sort.

Sara didn't think Ecklie would say anything to Grissom, not after how he'd made her feel. He had told her to end it before both of them lost their jobs. A warning that, although realistic, was not going to stop Sara Sidle from getting what she wanted. Maybe she was wrong in thinking Grissom would be the same.

"I…I didn't think…" she started, not really sure of how to excuse herself from the matter.

"No, you didn't think and now both of us have the chance that we'll lose our job over this",

"It won't come to that", Sara promised

"No? Well Ecklie pretty much told me that I have a decision to make- you or my job",

Sara closed her eyes for a moment, thinking of something she could say that would make everything better. There was nothing, all she could do was plead her innocence.

"I'm really sorry…he was being a jerk. I just sort of…said it on the spur of the moment. I didn't think he'd react like he did, and I certainly didn't think he would tell you",

"Would _you _have told me?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I was just going to convince Ecklie it was over between us and try to keep it a secret",

"I don't think that will work", he sighed.

Sara held her arms out to him, and this time he reached for her and pressed her body close to his "I'm on unpaid leave for the rest of the week", he murmured into her hair "Come back to my place when your shift's over".

She nodded, breaking away a little so she could look up at him "I will",

Then her gaze focused on something behind Grissom. He turned to see what had caught her attention and found Greg stood in the hallway staring at them through the open door. He gave both of them a look of confusion before disappearing somewhere.

Sara burst out laughing the second he was gone "I think we'll have to try harder if we want to keep this a secret from everyone",

"Don't worry about Greg", Grissom smiled "no-one's going to believe a word he says",

"Except Catherine", Sara reminded him

Grissom nodded, knowing there was no way they would be able to convince Ecklie it was over and keep it a secret from everyone else. He also knew that, as Greg's presence had just proved, the locker room was not the best place to hold this conversation.

"I'll see you later", he told Sara, breaking away from her.

"Yeah…" she replied "I guess I should go tell Greg that was a _comforting _hug",

"I'm sure he's convincing himself the same right now, you'll just need to confirm it",

She smiled and whispered goodbye before heading out of the room and back to DNA where she hoped she would find Greg to clear a few things up…


	13. Chapter 13

"Nah, this wasn't just a hug", Sara heard Greg say as she paused outside the break room. Shift was almost over and she had some information to give to Nick regarding his case.

At first she was just going to walk right in there, leave Greg mid-sentence as he was no doubt talking about her. But she thought better of it and waited around to see what he had to say.

"He like…_embraced _her for ages", Greg finished

Then Sara heard Warrick input "Well maybe he was just saying sorry, you know, for what happened at the crime scene",

"Grissom doesn't apologise like_ that_", Greg insisted "It makes me wonder what else they get up to in the locker room…"

"If there is anything going on between them, I think they'd be a little more secretive at work", Nick said.

Sara didn't want to hear any more of their discussion. Pushing the door open, she entered the room with as much poise as she could manage. All three men looked up at her arrival wondering just how much she'd heard of the conversation they had just been having.

Finally deciding that she wasn't going to comment if she had heard, Greg chose to greet her "Um…hi Sara",

"Hello Greg", she replied, a slight hint of annoyance in her voice but nothing that any of the others picked up on.

She moved towards Nick and placed a sheet of paper down in front of him "This is for you",

His eyes scanned it briefly "Oh…thanks Sara",

"No problem", she muttered sarcastically, hating the fact that she had been given the job of paper work when even Greg had got annoyed with her working on DNA. "Well shift's over so I guess I'll see you guys later", she said, giving a little nod at nobody in particular.

"You can come back to work with me tomorrow", Greg grinned at her as she was leaving. She did not appreciate being bossed around by 'Grissom's lab-boy' but figured she didn't have much of a choice given the present situation.

As she marched off down the hallway, she heard all three of them laughing and couldn't help but smile too when she realised she had Grissom waiting for her.

* * *

Back at his townhouse, Grissom poured a glass of wine for both him and Sara. Shift should have just finished and he knew she would get here soon. He had news to tell her and she wasn't going to like it…

Since he had arrived home he had made a couple of phone calls and everything was sorted, he just needed to tell Sara.

One of the calls had been to the Sheriff. Grissom had decided that he wasn't going to listen to Ecklie. He wanted to be with Sara and the Sheriff had confirmed that as long as their relationship was discreet at work and didn't interfere with professional circumstances, it was okay for them to continue seeing each other. Sara would be happy about that at least.

When his doorbell rang, he hurried to the door to meet Sara. He gave her a little kiss and let her in, gesturing for her to take a seat on the couch. She sank into it in relaxation, making him smile when he returned with her glass of wine.

"Hard day at work?" he asked, placing both their glasses on coasters on his coffee table in front of her.

"Paperwork", she said disdainfully as he sat down next to her and took a sip from his glass.

"Ah", he replied, feeling nervous about what he knew he had to tell her.

She smiled and picked up her glass "So, how was _your_ day?"

"Fine", he told her distantly, having the sense to wait until she had almost finished the wine before speaking again "I did some thinking",

Taking a final sip, she peered at him uneasily, perhaps sensing that she wasn't going to like the news that awaited her "About what?"

"Work, you…me, us..."

She shot him a questioning look "What's that supposed to mean?"

He closed his eyes as if bracing himself for her reaction "Sara…I made a couple of phone calls today. One was to the Sheriff who told me that if we're discreet at work, there's nothing Ecklie can do about our relationship", he waited for her to give a happy response before he told her the real news, but she saw through his ploy.

"Who was the other one to?"

Pausing first to think of a way to soften the words, he told her "The Sheriff also said that it's best if I go away for a while, just to stay out of the lab and clear my mind. I'll be staying with a friend on a remote nature island",

"Which friend? What's his name?" Sara demanded quickly, she knew little of Grissom's life beyond work and had never really considered the possibility of him even _having _a friend that she didn't know about.

"Uh…_her _actually. You remember Terri Miller don't you? She's an anthropologist; she's done work at the lab before…"

"Terri Miller?" Sara exploded predictably "Didn't you and her used to _date_?"

"Only once", he reminded her "and anyway, she knows all about you and me. I told her on the phone",

"So you'd rather spend your time looking at bugs and butterflies with Terri than be here with me?"

Grissom sighed, looping his arm across her shoulders "Of course I would like to stay here with you, Sara", he promised "But the Sheriff thinks this is for the best, and I'm inclined to agree with him at this moment in time",

Beginning to warm to the idea little more, she asked him how long he would be staying.

"Two weeks", he answered, hoping she wouldn't see it as a long time. "But Terri's out there on business so I can email you everyday, and when I get back we can tell people and be together properly".

He reached for her hand and she squeezed back, letting him know that she was okay with that as long as he was hers.

Their lips met gently, and when she pulled away, Grissom stroked her hair and whispered "I love you Sara Sidle, and nothing will change that".

* * *

A/N: Aww fluffly ending! But of course, I shall have to be evil and ruin all that...


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **See previous chapters.

**A/N:** There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter!

* * *

Grissom awoke the next morning to find Sara gone and a note left in her place. He had hoped she wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, but maybe she was still a bit angry with him. Carefully, he reached over and picked up the note. It was folded over and his name was written on the front in Sara's writing. 

'_I'm going home and then in to work and I don't know when you're leaving so if you want to see me before you go give me a call. (I'll do my best to get out of lab work with Greg!) I guess I'm sorry about last night, I over-reacted a bit. I'm just going to miss you that's all. Anyway I hope you have a great time. I love you so much,  
__Sara'_

Once he was done reading, he glanced at the clock. He _had _wanted to see her before he went and it was unlikely she could get past Ecklie if she was working the day shift today. He knew that shift didn't start for another hour or so, but he also knew that Sara liked to be there early.

Quickly, he picked up his phone from the side of the bed and called Sara. After three rings, she answered. "Hey," she said in a slightly sultry tone.

"That's very unprofessional of you", he joked.

"Well I'm not at work yet", she informed him, which was what he had called her to find out in the first place.

"Ah, well then perhaps you could give me the pleasure of your company for a while before you head in",

"And why would I want to do that?" she said in a voice as flirtatious as she could manage.

"I don't know…I just thought you'd like to come see your boyfriend before he goes away",

She smiled hearing him use his official title of his relationship to her. It wasn't a word she had thought he'd refer to himself as so early on, but she liked it.

"Are you worth driving _all that way_?" she asked, continuing to flirt with him.

"I'd come see you", he told her "but I'm not dressed yet".

"Even better", she said, finding it hard not to laugh that she was talking like this "I'll be there soon".

The line went dead and Grissom realised he should probably make himself more presentable for her arrival.

He was barely out of bed when the doorbell rang. Confused at how quickly she had got there, or if it _was _her, he threw a dressing gown on and went down to answer the door.

Indeed he found Sara stood outside, a huge smiled on her face as she could clearly see how confused he was at her speed.

"You got here quick", he said, hoping for an explanation as he let her in.

She smiled even more "Oh, I was in the area".

This just confused him even more but he chose not to take it further as he knew this could be his last chance to be with her for two whole weeks.

They seemed to fly to each other. Grissom wrapped his arms around her protectively as if he would never let her go.

"You're not angry with me, are you?" he checked, pulling away but still keeping his hands tightly around her waist.

"No", she whispered, leaning into his chest.

"I'd much rather stay with you, you know that", he promised.

She nodded and moved her head upwards to kiss him fully and passionately. They remained in this embrace until Sara could no longer breathe and she pulled away.

"It's not fair", she said, running her hands across his shoulders and down his back "we've only been together for a couple of days and you have to go already",

"I know", he soothed "but it's not for _that _long, and with all the work Greg's going to have you doing you won't even have time to miss me!"

"I want people to know about us, Gris", she complained like a child "Maybe then Greg will stop flirting with me",

He laughed "And I suppose you never flirt back do you?"

She pretended to look hurt but couldn't stop herself from laughing back "Well, maybe _sometimes _I do…"

"Nothing I should be jealous of I hope", he said, still with a smile on his face.

"You know it isn't!" she cried, punching him playfully in the arm.

"Just like _you _know nothing's going to happen between me and Teri, right?"

Sara's eye's dropped the floor. She was obviously thinking of something to say that didn't make her sound pathetic and jealous "Well…I don't really know Teri…"

"True", Grissom agreed "but you know me, and I very much hope that you trust me",

She didn't reply to that. Knowing her silence meant she wasn't convinced, he leaned in and kissed her again. She kissed back but more rigidly like she was trying to act as though she did trust him, when truth be told, she didn't entirely. She was aware that Grissom wasn't exactly the type to cheat, but how did she know what _type _he was? All she really knew of him was work influenced. Emotionally she knew so little of him it scared her. Especially since she didn't know Teri and she and Grissom had dated, even if it was only once.

"Please tell me you're okay with this", Grissom begged, his eyes searching Sara's for the answers he needed.

Both of them knew that whatever she said made no difference, he was going anyway.

"I…"she started, knowing that she couldn't ask him what she really wanted to. She couldn't ask him to forget about his career, his whole life, and run away with her. Though they had been friends and co-workers for years, they had only sustained a romantic relationship for a matter of days.

"If it's what you want", she finally said, hoping to satisfy his urge to know she wasn't angry with him for leaving.

"You know that doesn't really come into it", he sighed "I have to at least persuade the Sheriff that I've had time to think",

"But what if you do start thinking about us, and you change your mind?"

"I can promise you that won't happen", he assured her "but I don't know if you'll believe me".

She nodded "You're right, I don't know if I can believe that. You spent so long fighting feelings for me, why give up now?"

"Because", he said, pulling her closer again "when I thought that something could have happened to you, I realised that I do have feelings for you and that I do want to be with you".

She didn't seem to accept, pulling away from him and stepping towards the door. "You had better hope that's enough".

He watched her leave, knowing that this was the last time they would see each other for two weeks, and she wasn't even willing to accept his reasons.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own CSI.

* * *

Sara's day was getting worse and worse. So far, all she'd done was avoid arguments with Ecklie and piss Greg off. She hadn't realised anyone, let alone herself could be more annoying than Greg. 

Throughout the day she kept taking her phone out, thinking she'd heard it ring. But each time the blank screen reminded her cruelly that no-one wanted to speak to her, not even Grissom who was supposed to love her so much. Of course, it would have been easy for her to just call _him_, but after walking out on him, she felt that he was the one who needed to do the running. This did not help her distract herself from thoughts of him with Teri Miller, however much he'd promised her nothing was going to happen.

At the end of the shift, she sat alone in the break room sipping a coffee. She was supposed to be going home after the shift ended. As she was used to working the night shift, she knew it would do her good to get some sleep. She also knew there was no way she actually would sleep until she heard from Grissom.

For a while, she toyed with the idea of staying put and doing some over-time. But it wasn't like she really had anything to do, she couldn't do field work and was of no use to Greg in her current state. After finishing her coffee, she chose to go back to her apartment.

Having already decided sleep was out of the question, Sara settled herself down with a bottle of beer and an old TV-movie. Even that proved useless. She found herself unable to concentrate on the movie due to constant thoughts and concerns about what Grissom was doing at that moment. She must have eventually dozed off though, because the next thing she knew her phone was ringing. Still a little tired from the nap she took, she searched around for her phone. She had hoped it would finally be Grissom. Instead she saw the called ID read 'Catherine'. With a sigh, she answered.

"Oh hey…were you sleeping?" Catherine asked.

"Yes", Sara answered, yawning as if to prove it.

Catherine laughed "I didn't know you _did _sleep",

"Well I was just then. What's up?"

"Double homicide in Henderson. Nick and Warrick are already on a case, I could use some help",

Sara yawned again "Can't you ask Greg?"

"Sara, I wouldn't ask for your help if I didn't really need it…"

"Okay, okay", she sighed, scanning the room for her jacket "just don't expect Ecklie to be too pleased. I'm off field work, remember?"

"Oh, never mind him. Just head over here and give me a ring when you're somewhere close, it's kind of in the middle of nowhere..."

She gave one last sleepy yawn as she hung up and headed out to her car.

* * *

After Sara had left, Grissom spent the rest of his day packing up his remaining essentials (which included a couple of bug and forensic books), giving Sara time to cool off. He figured it was best to call her when he had actually arrived on the island. That was, if she even wanted him to call her. He wasn't particularly sure of how she felt, just that she was angry about him going. While he completely understood her anger, he had had hoped that she would understand why he was leaving. Besides, it was only two weeks, and he was going to miss her a lot more than she realised. 

Grissom left for the airport with plenty of time to catch his flight. Teri was already on the island on work there and she had promised to meet him when his plane got in. He knew her presence irritated Sara, but it also irritated him that she didn't find him trustworthy.

It was a long time since he had seen Teri. Though he had previously had romantic interest in her, it hadn't worked out and he no longer saw her as anything more than a friend. Sara may have had a difficult time believing this, but it was true. He was visiting the island because, like the Sheriff had said, he needed to get away and think. It had struck him as a good idea to visit the nature island Teri had told him she was doing work there in her email. He had made a point of not telling Sara that she even _had_ any contact with him. He did want to be honest with her, he just feared for his own safety if Sara knew they emailed each other on a reasonably regular basis. Keeping it from her wasn't exactly _dishonest_ anyway.

He enjoyed the short flight, mostly thinking about Sara and how he should ring her when the plane landed. Hopefully, she would want to talk to him.

As it happened, he never got the chance to find out.

Teri was waiting for him like she had said she would be when he arrived at the airport. She waved enthusiastically and greeted him with a _friendly _kiss on the cheek when he walked over to her.

"I'm glad you came", she smiled "I don't think you've taken a day off work before, have you?"

"Sure", he smiled back, though he was actually struggling to remember the last time he had done.

She didn't pursue it "Shall I give you a guided tour? Though, there isn't much to see really…"

He nodded anyway "Perhaps I could drop my bags off at my cabin first?"

"Ah…yes", she said uneasily.

"Something the matter?"

"Um…no, it's just…well this place is just a _small _island you see…"

He frowned, wondering what exactly she meant.

"and um…I know I said you'd be getting your own cabin, but I'm afraid there aren't any free. You may have to share with me".

It seemed odd of her to phrase it 'you _may _have to share with me'. Grissom soon found out that indeed, he didn't have a choice. He stepped cautiously into the cabin as if it was a crime scene waiting to be processed and there could be a body hiding anywhere.

Teri noticed this and gave him a little smirk "You can put your bags down anywhere".

He took sense of the word 'anywhere' and dropped his bags on the little sofa-looking-object in front of him.

"I'd go gentle on that", she warned him "It's your bed for the time being",

"Ah", he said, eyeing it suspiciously whilst he removed both bags and instead put them down on the floor.

"I'm sorry about this, Gil", she said, tapping his arm in an apparent commiserative way. "You could always share my bed?"

He froze up. Unable to think of an appropriate response, he just stood stiffly, wondering if she'd really said that.

She burst out laughing "Don't look so worried. It was a joke".

"Oh…right", he replied, allowing an incredibly false smile to take shape of his mouth.

"You all ready for this tour then?" she asked

"Yeah, I'll just call Sara first", he told her, lifting his phone from the pocket of his trousers.

"That could prove difficult", she said, bearing the same uneasy expression she had when she explained about the cabin shortage.

He didn't need her to explain why. The screen stared back at him, flickering and blank. There was no signal. He would not be able to get through to Sara.

* * *

Evil as it seems, I'm actually quite proud of that chapter (though I maybe just like ruining things?) I keep finding annoying little mistake in it though. I should really get a beta...Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll try to update soon. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: **I don't own CSI...sniff

* * *

"So, how are you and Sara?"

The question seemed to come from nowhere, and Grissom observed Teri's face from where she sat opposite him at the little restaurant where they were having dinner. He took a generous sip from his beer, which he was surprised they even sold here, and searched his mind for the _right _thing to say.

The right thing to say would give Teri a clear implication that he was serious about Sara, serious enough to have not stopped thinking about her since he left.

"We've only been together a couple of days", he said, regretting it almost instantly "But, yeah…we're great",

Teri, seeming satisfied with his answer, said nothing.

"You're married aren't you?" he asked "How's that going?"

She smiled at him thinly "Oh…it's going fine",

Grissom nodded "What are you working on out here?"

"Bones", she replied "as always. Several skeletons were found and an anthropologist was needed…so here I am!"

Frowning, he drank again from his beer. Her answer didn't seem sufficient. She was spending _two weeks _on something like that? Even if there had been several skeletons, she had worked so quickly back at the crime lab in Las Vegas.

"And you're just here to…get away, right?" she asked him.

He realised that he hadn't given all the details of his trip to Teri.

"I'm uh…I needed some time to think", he said, taking a glance at her before quickly adding "The Sheriff's suggestion",

She nodded knowingly "And did the Sheriff suggest you spent two weeks just thinking?"

* * *

"Blood drops leading away from the scene", Catherine noted, positioning her camera and taking a picture.

Sara shone her flashlight around the area "Where are we exactly?"

Her co-worker fiddled with the strap on her camera "A filed in the middle of Henderson", she answered vaguely "Now will you _please _help me?"

She responded by pulling on a pair of gloves on and kneeling down in the grass beside the first body. Catherine watched as she checked his arms and hands for defensive wounds.

"No signs of a struggle, no visible ligature marks", she reported.

Catherine nodded "Yeah, it's the same on the other guy".

"He's got what looks like stab wounds to the chest", Sara said as Catherine knelt down opposite her "If someone was stabbing you, wouldn't you put up a fight?"

She shrugged "Under sedation maybe? We'll know more when Doc Robbins does a full autopsy"

Turning her attention to the lower body, Sara noticed something on his shoes. She moved to get a closer look "Hey, what does that look like to you?" she asked.

Catherine touched the substance with a gloved index finger "Sand", she said, turning around to retrieve her kit. "I'll take a sample".

Sara stood up and followed the dirt-track beside them with her flashlight "How does a guy found in the middle of nowhere get sand on his shoes?"

Looking up at her, Catherine gave a little smile "He goes to the beach?"

* * *

"Sara will be worried", Grissom said, he still had no signal.

Teri smiled and stood up "Well, I'm done now. Let's head back to my cabin and you can email her".

Also standing up, he followed her and they went back to the cabin. His bags were where he had left them on the floor.

"Sorry about this", he said, gesturing at the bags "Would it be possible for me to put my things somewhere?"

Teri looked thoughtful for a moment "I think I've got a free drawer you can have, and there's some space in the closet", she said, leading him into the bedroom.

He noticed her laptop on the bed. "Thanks", he smiled gratefully as she showed him an empty drawer and he began to unpack.

Teri disappeared for a while as he was unpacking and came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses. "Might as well make a night of it", she said, a slight grin on her face that Grissom couldn't decide meant she was joking or not.

She placed the glasses on the table next to the bed and then glanced at the laptop.

"Oh, you can email Sara if you want", she said in the same voice she'd use to say 'you can jump off a cliff if you want'.

Frowning a little, he cautiously approached the bed and opened the laptop.

Teri poured him a glass of wine and then sat down next to him and handed him it.

He took a sceptical sip from it while Teri showed him how to work her computer.

He began to type the email, then realised that Teri was still sat beside him, intent on seeing what he wrote. Suddenly he felt very shy about typing out emotional things to her and ended up writing a very short email indeed.

'_Sara_

_Hi, sorry I haven't been in touch. I am not able to contact you other than through email, just wanted to let you know that I got here okay. Tell everyone that I miss them_

_Love Gil'_

Sara didn't get his email until the following morning. After she'd spent the night worrying why he hadn't called her and then tried to call him and had not being able to get through. _Or maybe he just hadn't answered because he didn't want to speak to her._ She didn't want to think that his lack of contact with her meant he was ending their relationship, but the short and undescribed email she received that morning almost confirmed it. Grissom had better things to do while he was on some random nature island with Teri Miller. And she knew that was not good.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **The characters aren't mine, I just use them for amusement.

* * *

Catherine entered the break room that evening to find Sara half-asleep with her head on the table.

"Hey Sara", she called, awakening her colleague who gave her best evil look for doing so "you want a coffee?"

Sara mumbled something and returned to resting her head on the table.

Taking a sip from her coffee cup, Catherine walked towards her and placed the cup down.

"Have you slept at all since our crime scene last night?" she dared to ask.

The woman opposite her struggled to pull her head up "No",

Catherine sighed and took a seat "You know, Sara, I'm your supervisor while…"

Even a lack of sleep didn't stop Sara from cutting her off "You are _not _my supervisor!"

"No but while Grissom isn't here I'm a stand-in",

Sara scowled but her tired mind would not provide her with a decent reply to that so she just said nothing.

"Ecklie's pissed that you're back on the field. We're already short of people. If he doesn't think you're working as well as you could be then he'll get the Sheriff involved. We're working this case together, Sara. I need you". Catherine allowed her final words to register while she finished off her coffee and left the room.

"That sounds so much better when Grissom says it", Sara whispered, long after Catherine had gone.

* * *

Finally finding time for himself once Teri had gone to work, Grissom chose to take a walk around the island. He now realised that two weeks here was a little excessive, especially to be away from Sara so long at the start of their relationship. Perhaps he had expected too much of her to understand why he was doing this. She probably felt like it was her he was running away from. It was just going to be so difficult to sustain a relationship beyond work, and he needed time to think about what he was doing before he rushed into things. There were a lot of risks to take and he didn't want to move too quickly. He was also aware that visiting Teri wasn't the best idea in the world, he just wasn't used to considering Sara's feelings in the decisions he made unless work-related. It hurt him that she wasn't more trusting but he knew that this whole thing was difficult for her too and they had only been together properly for a few days…

"I thought you might be out here", a familiar voice caused him to stop his thinking and he turned to face Teri Miller. She smiled at his confused expression. _Isn't she meant to be at work? _

"It looks like I'm no longer needed for my job here", she explained.

Grissom lowered his eyebrows "I thought you said you'd be working here for two weeks",

She nodded "I did say that. I thought I would be too but…apparently not",

He took a step towards her "So…what, are you going to move on to somewhere else now?"

Shrugging in response to his question, she looked around her and inhaled the natural smell of the island "If I can get the time off I'll stay here- for pleasure, not business",

Her words made him tense up. It wasn't exactly what she said, more the tone of her voice and the way she was looking at him.

She seemed oblivious to the awkward tension between them, and if she did notice she ignored it "Have you eaten yet?"

Finding himself unable to say anything, he simply shook his head.

"Well, we could go eat lunch?" she suggested.

It was a perfectly sweet and friendly invitation, but Grissom suddenly didn't feel comfortable with her.

"There's something I have to do", he said at last.

She stared at him inquisitively "Oh? What would that be?"

"I shouldn't be here", he said, gesturing around them "I'm going to book the next flight home".

He didn't wait around to see how Teri reacted. This was something he had to do, and fast.

* * *

Sorry it's short, but it's coming to an ending soon. Thanks for reading x 


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer**: By this chapter it should be quite obvious that I don't own CSI, but just to be safe...

**A/N: **The island that Grissom is on is totally random and fictional, so I'm basically making the geography and timing part up.

* * *

"Sara, shift's over", Nick said from the door of the break room.

She nodded, hoping he wasn't going to persuade her to go home. There wasn't anything for her to do at home; at least she could finish up some paperwork if she stayed at the lab.

"I know Nicky", she said, trying to keep her response closed so that he wouldn't say anything else.

From the corner of her eye she watched as he hesitated, looking behind him and then back at her. For a moment she thought he was just going to turn around and go home, leaving her pretending to occupy her mind when all she could really do was think about Gil. But Nick seemed to take it upon himself to find out what was bothering his friend.

It wasn't unusual for him to see Sara working over-time, quite the opposite in fact. Yet that night he knew something was wrong from just watching her. He couldn't help but wonder if it was because of their supervisor's absence. The entire lab seemed to be aware that she was fond of him, but Nick had never even considered that it was more than that.

"You're…okay with Grissom not being here, right?" he asked, unsure of how exactly to phrase what he wanted to say.

Her head shot up at that and she replied almost too quickly "Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged but continued to hover around behind her like an annoying fly. And flies made her think of entomology, which made her think of Grissom. She was getting nowhere.

"Nick…" she started, trying to think of a kind way to get rid of him while letting him know she appreciated his concern "I know you're just trying to help, but I'm fine", she forced a pretty convincing smile.

She wasn't sure if it had been convincing enough and was wondering what else she could say to assure him, when he finally nodded and slowly left her alone, stopping only at the door to remind her that she knew where he was if she needed him.

"Thanks", she replied without looking up.

Nick watched her resume the head-on-the-table pose when he was a little way out of the room. There was definitely something wrong, and she was definitely too stubborn to tell him.

* * *

"Yes, of course I understand how little air traffic flies in here but can't you just…"

"I'm sorry, Mr Grissom", the now rather annoyed woman working the help desk at the airport said sharply "but I can't get you on a flight to Las Vegas for another three days".

Grissom sighed, defeated and the woman looked at him sympathetically "Is it important?"

He stopped himself from pointing out how stupid a question that had been "_She's _very important and I can't get a damn signal to call her!"

The assistant frowned "Weren't you told about Tendon Hill on your arrival?"

He shook his head "Should I have been?"

"Well, yes, we have a policy to ensure everyone travelling to the island is informed of the network problem and how to resolve it", she stated very matter-of-factly before frowning again "Who was your tour operator?"

"Oh, I'm staying with a friend…" he said quietly, realising _why _he wasn't aware of this.

"Well, the only place you'll be able to find a network signal is Tendon Hill. Would you like directions?" she asked helpfully.

On his way out, the woman shouted him back "Mr Grissom?" she called, gaining his attention as he started to walk back over to her desk "I shouldn't do this…" she told him, glancing nervously around the empty airport "but I would like to help you. Would it be possible for you to arrange transport home from San Francisco?"

"Yes…" he answered, not sure what she was meaning.

"You might just be in luck then", she told him as she typed something into a computer "a flight to San Francisco leaves at 6pm tonight".

He smiled at her kindness and turned to leave but was called back yet again.

"You may find yourself pretending to be part of entomology business trip…sorry; it's the only way I can get you on the flight".

He gave her one last smile "I think I can do that".

* * *

The sound of a ringing phone awoke Sara Sidle from an unintentional sleep. She fumbled, still not properly awake, in her pocket and took out the source of the shrill ring. But she must have still been asleep because the called ID read 'Grissom'.

"Hello?" she answered suspiciously into the phone.

Her dream-like state was confirmed by the sound of Grissom's voice on the other end "Sara! Honey, I'm sorry I haven't called you, it's a long story. Can you get yourself to San Francisco for about 2 pm tomorrow, well today, your time?"

Sara took the phone away from her ear and stared at it confusion as though it would give her the answers she needed.

She glanced at the clock and then mumbled something into the phone "Grissom, it's 6 am, why the hell are you calling me?"

"I didn't think about the time difference", he explained "I just needed to talk to you. From the sound of it you were actually sleeping!"

She pouted at the joke he made despite him not actually being present to see it.

"Anyway", he paced on before she could think of a come-back "San Francisco, can you get there?"

She yawned into the receiver "I suppose I can, why?"

"Drive over to the airport", he replied "I've got a surprise for you".

"What? Grissom…?" she was talking to a dead line.

Screwing her face up in confusion, she slipped her phone back into her pocket. That was one crazy dream…


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: **This was all for my amusement, I don't own CSI.

**A/N**: This will be the last official chapter but I'll probably make an epilogue if enough people want to see how the rest of the team react.

* * *

Grissom's plane came into land a good hour before Sara was supposed to get here. Even so, he scanned the line of people waiting to greet loved ones just in case she had arrived early. He hadn't even told her what to expect when she did get here. Was she going to be pleased to see him? What would the Sheriff think? After all, his two weeks 'thinking' had been short-lived to about a day. But it wasn't like Sara would tell anyone he was back, so maybe he could just hide out at his townhouse for the rest of the time and pretend he'd stayed on the island and away from Sara. Then the only problem would be getting the Sheriff to come round to the idea of him and Sara been together and telling the other CSIs. How his team were going to react hadn't even crossed his mind until now. He was actually scared of Catherine because he had already lied to her once before. Nick, Greg and Warrick would probably take it lightly but he knew none of them would like the fact that he had kept this from them. 

Searching the crowd with his eyes one more time just in case, Grissom finally decided that Sara wasn't here yet and took to a seat close by where he lifted out his phone thinking how Sara was just a call away. His fingers traced the buttons on the keypad but at the last moment he changed his mind and put it back in his pocket. _She'll be here soon.

* * *

_

Sara must have gone back to sleep because she woke up, still resting her head against the table in the break room several hours later. Her whole body ached from the uncomfortable position she had been in. Allowing her brain to wake up, she remembered the conversation she had had with Grissom a few hours ago. _Had that actually happened?_ Still in a sleepy state, she reached for her phone and opened up the 'recent calls' section. She blinked manically at the screen which clearly told her that she had in fact received a call from Grissom. Despite being sure it was a dream, Sara checked her watch and then rushed out of the lab realising how little time she had to drive over to San Francisco.

* * *

Sara was supposed to be here by now. Sitting alone, Grissom continuously looked around for her and stared at his cell phone expecting her to call. He watched the time tick by until she was fifteen minutes late, then he pressed the 'call' button and placed it to his ear. He got her answer phone. In annoyance, he stuffed the phone back into his pocket and waited a little longer. Just a few minutes later, it started ringing. He dived his hand into his pocket, hoping it was Sara and smiled when he saw the caller ID, yet he still answered as though he was talking to anyone else.

"Grissom",

"Gris, hey! I'm at San Francisco airport", Sara's voice said "what exactly am I doing here?"

Still smiling, Grissom got up off his seat and walked outside to where he could see the tall brunette looking around for a reason for her to be there.

"Grissom?" she demanded into the phone when he didn't answer her.

Originally he was going to say something like 'turn around' or 'behind you', but the very idea seemed overly clichéd so he just coughed as if to clear his throat and watched her expression change when she spun around and saw him standing right behind her.

He dropped his bags as she weaved her arms around him and he pulled her in closer. Okay, that was definitely clichéd, but neither of them seemed to care.

"Come into work with me", she whispered against his shoulder.

He frowned, asking her to explain her reasons without even saying anything.

"I just want everyone to know", she said, reading his expression clearly.

With a gentle sigh he let her go from his grip and picked up his bags from where he had dropped them.

"What?" she asked before adding "You don't want to tell them yet, do you?"

"Sara I do want…" he said, quickly running out of words to end his sentence "I mean…I can't go back in, not yet. The Sheriff still thinks I'm having some time to think",

"It doesn't sound like you've thought about a lot", Sara snapped

He breathed out tentatively "Both of us could lose our jobs here, Sara, we can't just rush into something like this".

"Well then I'll tell them! No-one has to know you're home",

"It's not just…" he began, again leaving the sentence half finished "I think we should wait, would you do that for me?"

There was a long period of silence between them where Grissom thought that this was it, the end before it begun.

Then Sara pouted her lips a little the way she did when she was thinking and finally gave him a short nod.

Neither of them spoke any more on the subject on the drive home. They spent their time discussing how much they'd missed each other and anything else they could think of.

It was only when they were safe inside Grissom's townhouse that Sara dared to change the subject.

"I think Nick knows".

"He's a trained investigator", Grissom answered flatly "I'd seriously be considering him for demotion if he didn't notice _something_",

Sara grinned "I think even _Greg _knows",

Grissom silenced her with a soft kiss "They'll all know soon enough. I just have to convince the Sheriff that I'm making the right decisions for the right reasons",

Still leaning against him, Sara asked "And are you?"

He nodded, his fingers now exploring her hair "I'm quite sure of that Miss Sidle".

The huge smile never left her face as she leaned closer and kissed him more passionately than she ever had before.

"I love you", she whispered, the words seeming so meaningless when anyone else said them. But with Sara, it was much more than just words. It was an expression, a knowledge, a devotion.

And Grissom realised right then that Ecklie and the Sheriff could do whatever they wanted. Nothing would stop him from being with Sara. He loved her far too much.

**

* * *

**

**Thanks very much to everyone that stuck through this. Please leave me a review if you'd like an epilogue!**


	20. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **It would have been nice to own CSI just for the end, but I don't :(

**A/N:** Yes, it's quite short but I think it gives a nice rounded edge to my story. Again, thanks to everyone that stuck with this. **

* * *

**

**Two weeks later...**

A knock on the door caused Grissom to look up from his catch-up of paper work and see Sara leaning in the doorway of his office.

"Everyone's in the break room", she said softly "I think you should come".

He nodded slowly in response "Yes…I suppose we need to get this out of the way",

Still standing in the doorway, Sara waited for the man the rest of the team were about to find out was more to her than just a boss and they silently made their way over to the break room.

Greg was telling the others about his new date or something when they arrived and only shut up when Grissom cleared his throat.

Four faces stared blankly up at Grissom and Sara.

"Um…Sara and I have something to tell you", Grissom announced

Catherine shot Nick a knowing smile and Warrick seemed to be in on their little 'joke', but Greg looked totally lost.

"We've been…together now for a couple of weeks and we wanted you to know", he said, confirming their suspicions.

Greg didn't look particularly surprised but he just shrugged and muttered "Wow", before insisting he had work to do back in DNA.

Nick and Catherine were still flashing smug smiles but not saying anything, and Warrick just grinned and said "I'm happy for you man".

Sara was going to reply but just then Brass walked into the room.

"What did I miss?" he asked, judging by the faces of the CSIs and the uneasy silence around them.

"Gil and Sara just announced they're seeing each other", Catherine said in a breezy tone of voice.

"Oh right", Brass commented just as casually "I wondered when they'd finally come clean",

"Excuse me?" Sara said "You _knew_?"

Taking a seat beside Catherine, Brass shrugged "I'm not a cop for nothing you know".


End file.
